Mumbai police arrest salon employee in Khar for molesting scriptwriter

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Mumbai police has arrested a 41-year-old staffer of a salon located in Khar area of Mumbai for allegedly molesting a 22-year-old scriptwriter when she visited the facility for a massage.

A police official told newswire PTI that the accused, Deepak Kumar Mishra, allegedly touched the woman inappropriately while giving her a massage on Saturday night.

The woman immediately went to Khar police station and lodged an FIR under various sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) including 354 (Assault or criminal force to woman with intent to outrage her modesty), the official said, adding that Mishra was arrested.

Meanwhile, a special POCSO court in Maharashtra's Thane sentenced a man to 10 years in jail for sexually abusing an 8-year-old girl.

Special POCSO Act Judge DS Deshmukh, in his order of January 29, also fined Rajeshsingh Ambikasingh Yadav, a rickshaw driver from Kashimira area, Rs 5,000.

On November 18, 2018, Yadav, who was a friend of the victim's father, took her to his house and subjected her to aggravated penetrative sexual assault.

After she narrated her ordeal to her family, a case under Indian Penal Code and Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act was registered.

Nine witnesses were examined, including the victim and her mother, Special Public Prosecutor Vivek Kadu said.

The judge rejected the defence's claim that a false complaint had been registered as the victim's father was supposed to repay a loan of Rs 20,000 to the accused.

In another news, three persons have been arrested in connection with the recovery of two pistols in Maharashtra's Akola district, and one of the accused was allegedly in touch with gangster Lawrence Bishnoi, police said on Sunday.

Acting on a tip-off, the police had recovered two pistols and nine rounds from a well in Akot on January 16, a police release said.

A case was registered under the Arms Act, and the police zeroed in on the accused, Praful Vinayak Chavan (25) and Ajay Tularam Dethe (27), and apprehended them on January 17, it said.

During a probe, it was found that Shubham Rameshvar Lonkar (25), a resident of Pune, had directed an unidentified supplier to deliver the weapons to Chavan, the release said.

Lonkar, who was the mastermind, was arrested on January 30, it said.

Investigations revealed that Lonkar had allegedly done WhatsApp video calls with gangster Lawrence Bishnoi twice in 2022 and 2023, and he had also received WhatsApp audio calls from three international numbers, including from the gangster's brother Anmol Bishnoi, the release stated.

"The investigation is focused on tracing middlemen, ascertaining the motive behind the parcel drop in Akola. The police are also further verifying alleged audio and video WhatsApp calls with Lawrence Bishnoi and others," Superintendent of Police Bachchan Singh said. (With inputs from agencies)